Hi guys, I’m finally back with a brand new career post and today we’re going to talk about 3 things you shouldn’t do when you’re interning. I’ve been an intern before and if I look back there would be some things I would have done different. So if you’re intern or you’re going to be interning soon this year then read through the 3 things you shouldn’t do as an intern.

1. Mingle yourself with the latest gossip of your colleagues

When you’re intern, you’re joining a team that most probably have been there for a while. They know the bits of eachother’s private lives and so on. Gossips happen almost at any workplace however it’s very important not to mingle yourself with them. Don’t show any interest or participate because this can eventually bring you into trouble and that’s not something you want when you’re doing you’re internship. And most important why would you talk behind someone back and especially when you don’t even know anything about those people?! When I was interning I was baffled about how the colleagues can talk tr*sh about eachother as soon as the persoon leaves the desk. I always think, if they can do it with their colleagues, they can gossip about you too so be aware!

2. Being passive

Another thing that isn’t really appreciated when you’re intern is when you become passive. With this I mean when you literally wait until the manager assigns a new task to you. That’s a no-go. If you really want to learn as much during your time at the company and also want to leave a good impression, you have to be proactive. When you’re done with a particular task, just ask your manager what you can pick up next or if you want you can come up with a proposal of as task you would like to pick up. This shows that you are willing to learn as much as possible. And think about it, if you just sit there wait until the manager notices you don’t have anything to do, time will literally crawl. So keep yourself busy and time will fly!

3. Pretending to understand everything

This is something to avoid. We all know that if you’ve never been an intern before it can be quite overwhelming to start working at an office where perhaps a lot is expected from you in a short time. You want to impressive your manager but don’t forget that you’re there to learn the ropes of the job. Don’t be scared or embarrassed to ask as many questions you have in the beginning of the internship. If your manager asks you to do a certain task and you don’t understand it, ask for clarification. It’s better to ask all the questions in the beginning than to pretend to understand it and deliver poor work. Or even worse, to ask the questions much later in time while you pretended to understand it in the beginning. You’re wasting your time and their time as well. So keep the questions coming if you have them and don’t be scared that they might be a stupid questions or anything. If you don’t ask, you won’t know.

Have you interned before? What was your experience and what would you have done different if you look back?